Technical Preview: Paris ePrix

TECH TALK

Posted on: 17 May, 2017

Passioneers, we are off to Paris for the sixth round of this season. Back-to-back races will give us an opportunity to maintain the momentum from the Monaco ePrix where Nick Heidfeld clinched a podium. Think we can bag back-to-back podiums?

Our Chief Engineer and Passioneer Vinit Patel talks about what the streets of Paris have in store for us.

Our Paris ePrix preparations had already begun well before the Monaco ePrix. We try to absorb as much information from one event to take it in to the next, but unfortunately this time we don't have that luxury.

We have some time between the races and the team is planning to be together for the entire period between the two events. We will get to our simulator in Barcelona, which logistically is a reasonable location to get to. We'll be able to get some work done in preparation for Paris, but not as much as normal in developing the M3Electro.

In terms of race preparation, we've been looking at the circuit and its limitations since well before the Monaco ePrix. We knew that the race was likely to be longer just based on the trend we’ve already established in season three. We have been hedging our bets a bit and doing a bit of predictive work in our simulations and putting as much information together that should be relevant before receiving final confirmation.

The circuit produced a good race last year. There are a lot of nuances to the Parisian streets; it's easy to look at the 2D map and make an assumption, but when you get to the corner you'll find some odd changes in camber and road surface which completely change how the driver or car have to be set up to make it work for them.

Similar to last week in Monaco, Paris will be all about qualifying than trying to race from the back. We were on for a good result last year, and we know we've got good pedigree around Les Invalides.